Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102
§281 Prospecting Permits for Chlorides, Sulphates, Carbonates, Borates, Silicates, or Nitrates of Potassium; Authorization; Acreage; Lands Affected
Title 30 › CHAPTER 3A — LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS › SUBCHAPTER IX — POTASH › § 281
Summary
The Secretary of the Interior may give qualified applicants exclusive permits to prospect for certain potassium compounds on U.S. lands for up to two years and covering no more than 2,560 acres in a compact area. Lands in or next to Searles Lake, California are excluded and may be leased instead.
Full Legal Text
Title 30, §281
Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to grant to any qualified applicant a prospecting permit which shall give the exclusive right to prospect for chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, borates, silicates, or nitrates of potassium in lands belonging to the United States for a period of not exceeding two years: Provided, That the area to be included in such a permit shall not exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land in reasonably compact form: Provided further, That the prospecting provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to lands and deposits in or adjacent to Searles Lake, California, which lands may be leased by the Secretary of the Interior under the terms and provisions of this subchapter.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This subchapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, 44 Stat. 1057, which enacted this subchapter, amended section 181 and 193 of this title, and repealed subchapter VII (§ 141 et seq.) of chapter 3 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was not enacted as part of act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437, known as the Mineral Leasing Act, which comprises this chapter.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
30 U.S.C. § 281
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102